Author(s)

Flesch, A.D., R.L. Hutto, C.G. Morris, T. Hare, and S. Avila

In 2011, biologists at the University of Montana (UM) partnered with Sky Island Alliance (SIA) and began a coordinated and multifaceted approach to landscape conservation in the Sky Islands region of northwest Mexico. SIA is a non-profit organization based in Tucson, Arizona, that is dedicated to the protection and restoration of biological diversity in the Madrean Sky Islands region in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. This effort, sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) and other partners, expanded our existing work in the region by bolstering support for active habitat restoration efforts in degraded riparian vegetation areas, education and outreach efforts focused on conservation of Neotropical migratory birds (NMB) and their habitats, and research and monitoring efforts to assess the efficacy of restoration treatments and guide future efforts in this and other similar regions. This final report summarizes the main objectives of this project, details our activities and accomplishments during the project, and outlines future objectives and tasks we plan to achieve after the project.